Triangle Choke
Submission · Closed Guard
A blood choke with the legs: your thigh closes one side of the neck, their own trapped shoulder the other. It comes from closed guard with their posture broken, one arm in and one arm out, typically when they try to stand. Shoot the leg on the free-arm side high across the back of the neck, grab your shin and turn toward that leg — hips toward the trapped arm, head toward the free arm — until you are perpendicular, the back of your knee against their neck and the trapped shoulder hidden behind your other knee. Lock knee over ankle, pull the trapped arm across their neck and finish by pulling the head down, pinching the knees and driving the top shin down into the neck like a guillotine, not just squeezing. If they posture out, go to the omoplata; if the trapped arm straightens, take the triangle armbar.
How to do it
- Push one wrist back to their chest and pull the other arm out to the side so one arm is in and one is out, while the closed guard keeps their posture down.
- Shoot the leg on the side of the free arm high over the shoulder and across the back of the neck, and pull the head down with your hands so they cannot posture.
- Grab your shin, put the other foot on their hip on the trapped-arm side and turn toward the leg over the neck — hips toward the trapped arm, head toward the free arm — until you are perpendicular and the back of your knee touches their neck.
- Lock the back of the other knee over your ankle, knee over ankle, and pull the trapped arm across their neck so their own shoulder closes one side of it.
- Finish all at once: pull the head down, pinch the knees, lift the hips and drive the top shin down into the neck.
Key details
- One arm in, one arm out: with both arms in or both out the neck is not closed on both sides and there is no triangle.
- Cut the angle: turn toward the leg over the neck — hips toward the trapped arm, head toward the free arm — until you are perpendicular; once the back of your knee touches their neck and their shoulder is hidden, the choke closes almost by itself.
- It is a blood choke: pull the trapped arm across their neck so their own shoulder closes one side and your thigh the other.
- Lock knee over ankle, not ankle over ankle: the figure-four is a structure that holds by itself, not a squeeze.
- Triangle, armbar and omoplata are one system: when they defend one, the next opens.
- Squeeze the knees together with steady pressure, not in pulses: closing the knees chokes, flexing the leg muscles does not.
Common mistakes
- Locking the triangle straight on. — Square, the neck has space and the lock is loose. — Turn toward the leg over the neck, hips toward the trapped arm, until you are perpendicular to them.
- Letting them posture up. — Standing tall they stack you and escape. — Keep pulling the head down with both hands until the lock is set.
- Squeezing with the arms only. — The legs do the choking; the arms get tired and it fails. — Pinch the knees, lift the hips and pull the head: all three at once.
- The shin of the choking leg slides down their back. — The lock sits far from the neck, a gap stays under your knee and squeezing does not reach the arteries. — Before locking, bring the ankle over their trapped shoulder, toes pointed back, and set it deep in the bend of your other knee.
If they defend
- They posture and stack you. → Keep the lock and switch to an armbar on the trapped arm.
- They push the trapped arm across to the other side. → Now both arms are out: go to the omoplata or retake the arm.
How to drill it
Triangle entries from the arm-in/arm-out position, 10 each side; then the partner tries to posture on three.
Safety
A blood choke acts in seconds. Squeeze steadily and let go at once when the partner taps or goes limp.
What comes next
Where it comes from